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The NRL has revealed the men who will be in charge of running this year’s grand final, with Gerard Sutton – brother of referees boss Bernard Sutton – appointed as lead referee, with ex-Super League veteran Ashley Klein appointed as his assistant.
The match will be Sutton’s fourth decider as referee, after he controlled the 2014, 2015 and 2017 deciders previously. Klein will be refereeing his first grand final, however he did take charge in the 2005, 2007 and 2008 Super League deciders.
Bernard Sutton, the NRL’s Senior Manager of Officiating, lavished the officiating group with praise in a press release, saying; “the officiating group for the Grand Final have all refereed on the big stage before and I’m certainly confident they will officiate well in the Grand Final.”
“All those referees and officials who will be officiating on Grand Final Day should be congratulated on the achievement,” he added.
Nick Beashel and Brett Suttor were appointed as the game’s touch judges, while Steve Chiddy and Ben Galea will be in the bunker as the senior review official and review official, respectively.
Ben Cummins has been listed as the standby referee, while the third Sutton brother, Chris, is on standby as the replacement touch judge.
Lead referee: Gerard Sutton
Assistant referee: Ashley Klein
Touch judges: Nick Beashel and Brett Suttor
Senior review official: Steve Chiddy
Review official: Ben Galea
Standby referee: Ben Cummins
Standby touch judge: Chris Sutton